Taurean Prince is one of five returning players with starting experience.

June 13, 2014

WACO, Texas - Baylor men's basketball will be one of eight teams to play in the 2014 Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational, which will be held Nov. 27-28 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

The Bears are in a bracket with Memphis, Illinois and Indiana State. Baylor will face Memphis on Nov. 27 at 11 p.m. CT and Illinois and Indiana State will meet at 4 p.m. CT. The winning teams in those games will play Nov. 28 at 9:30 p.m. CT, and the losing teams will meet at 7 p.m. CT. Television information for the Las Vegas games will be announced at a later date.

Prior to heading to Las Vegas, the Bears will host a pair of on-campus Invitational games. Baylor will host Prairie View A&M on Nov. 21 and Stephen F. Austin on Nov. 24. Tipoff times for those games will be announced at a later date. Austin Peay and Brown are also in the tournament field, though neither team will play Baylor.

The Bears last played in Las Vegas during the 2011 Las Vegas Classic. BU swept all four games in the event to claim the tournament title, defeating West Virginia, Saint Mary's, Paul Quinn and Bethune-Cookman. Pierre Jackson made the most of his return to his hometown, leading the Bears with 23 points on the way to an 83-81 overtime win in the championship game against West Virginia.

Baylor returns two starters and three more players with starting experience from last season's Sweet 16 team. The Bears have a pair of seniors returning to the starting lineup with point guard Kenny Chery, who averaged 12 points and 5 assists per game in 2013-14, and small forward Royce O'Neale, who contributed 7 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists per game last season.

BU also returns a trio of forwards who have starting experience. Junior Rico Gathers averaged 18 minutes per game last season, junior Taurean Prince played 14 minutes per game and sophomore Ish Wainright made four starts during his freshman campaign. The Bears also expect to get significant contributions from Johnathan Motley and Allerik Freeman, who both redshirted last season.

Tickets for the 2014 Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational games at Orleans Arena can be purchased by calling the Baylor Athletics Ticket Office at 254-710-1000.